1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery charger capable of charging the same type or different types of multiple mobile devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, when one charges a mobile device such as a mobile phone or a MD player, a single battery charger corresponding to the mobile device is used to charge the mobile device. The wider prevalence of mobile devices has led to selective use of multiple mobile phones for various purposes, such as a private use phone and a business use phone, possession of one or more mobile phones by respective family members or carrying and use of different electronic devices during commuting. When one charges different products or different types of mobile devices or when family members charge respective mobile devices, they need to have different battery chargers corresponding to the respective mobile devices and multiple plugs connected to the battery chargers.
Of course, for example, a single battery charger for common use may be able to charge mobile phones manufactured by the same manufacturer even if they are of different types. If an existing common battery charger is used to charge multiple mobile phones, however, when one of the mobile phones has been charged, the mobile phone is detached from the battery charger and then the next mobile phone is connected to the battery charger for charging. This procedure must be repeated for all the mobile phones. Each time one of the mobile phones has been charged, a user must detach the charged mobile phone from the battery charger and then connect the next mobile phone to the battery charger. In addition, if the user is not aware that the mobile phone has been charged, the duration between the charging completion of the mobile phone and the connection to the next mobile phone may simply become a loss of time.
In order to avoid the above-mentioned inconvenience, some battery chargers have been proposed. For example, Japan Laid-Open Publication 2006-34083 discloses a household use battery charger that includes multiple connector cables for connecting to multiple mobile phones and is capable of charging the multiple mobile phones simultaneously. Since the battery charger can supply and distribute power required to charge the individual mobile phones connected to the connector cables simultaneously, the power amount corresponding to the number of the connected mobile phones may be required. The arrangement of simultaneously charging the multiple mobile phones via the multiple connector cables at a conventional charging speed may be equivalent to one in which an extension cord having multiple plugs is connected to a single outlet. In other words, the arrangement of simultaneously charging the multiple mobile phones via the multiple connectors may be equivalent to the arrangement in which multiple outlets are used to simultaneously charge the multiple mobile phones.